We need a ‘dislike’ button for politicians, too

Márcio Delgado*

Soon Facebook will finally offer a ‘dislike’ button. Users on the social network have been asking for it for quite a while. Fact is: sometimes people post something that you really don’t like – or share a really sad note – and you can’t bring yourself to be supportive by clicking the ‘Like’ button, as it would look plain wrong. It would seem like if you were, actually, pleased to find out about someone losing a loved one or involved in an accident (well, some people may do). Thanks Mark Zuckerberg for acknowledging it and updating Facebook – and it only took a decade.

I think the ‘dislike’ button initiative could be successfully applied in politics, too. After all, a four-year term is a long time (in some countries it is five years) to put up with bad politicians. People change, life changes. Even Facebook changes.

Just like the new Facebook tool, it would be great to have a law introduced, asking voters to return to the polling stations once a year – or at least every other year – to kindly re-confirm their vote with a simple ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ to their elected candidate – and with a possibility of the politician having his/her mandate terminated in the event of a massive rejection.

Lets be honest: it would be a brutal test of democracy and popularity. Also, can you imagine how many costly strikes, marches and lengthy debates we would be spared of?

There is a word in the judiciary system that keeps lawyers and judges awake in the night. It's called precedent and, in court, this works more or less like this: a previously judged case is used as a template for new cases to follow. In other words: a template that balances common sense and the law, sometimes, can be used in more than one case to guide and inspire how subsequent cases will be judged in the future. It would be good to use the Facebook ‘like/dislike’ buttons as an inspiration to change the way we keep politicians in power – or send them packing.

Enabling voters to exercise their reassurance or change of heart – as well as the performances of their chosen representatives – would prompt politicians to make an effort to be ‘liked’ throughout their entire mandate – not only before winning an election.

The first candidate to propose that idea gets me pressing the ‘like’ button straight away.

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*Márcio Delgado is a London-based journalist and content producer.

Twitter: @marcio_delgado | www.marciodelgado.com